Steam trap



W. H. KUHN Jan. 26, 1932. 1

STEAM TRAP Filed Aug. 21, 1929 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 26, 1932WILERED' H. KUHN, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN STEAM TM? Application filedAugust 21, i929. Serial No. semen This invention relatesto devices forremoving the water of condensation fromfsteam lines, and moreparticularly to such devices employing a float bucketoperative tocontrol the discharge.

The objects of the present invention are to provide a device which issimple in construction, positive and eflicient in operation, and

whichwillprovideaquick action of the device to prevent theescape ofsteam past the discharge valve. A further object is to expel all airfrom the device after an inactive period during which such air hasaccumulated, and to provide certain other new and usefulfeaturesin theconstruction and operation of the device. p i i With-the above and otherends in view, the

invention consists in providing "an automatic trip device wherebyagradual descent of the bucket and slow opening of the discharge valveis prevented, and quick opening ofsaid valve and full discharge isinsured without loss of steam past the valve. The invention furtherconsistsin providing an arrangement whereby, upon the coming on of steampres sure afteran inactive'period, the device will at once operate todischarge water collected in the bucket and thereby expel all air whichn i w has accumulated'during such period of inactivity. The inventionalso consists in cer-: tain other new and useful features, all ashereinafter set forth and more particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which-Figural is a vertical axialsection through a device illustrative of anembodiment of the invention; I Fig. 2 is a sectional detailsubstantially upon the line 2.-2 of Fig. 1; I

Fig. 3 is a similar cross sectional detail upon the line 3+8 of Fig.1;and

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail on the line 4+4 ofFigl.

In the drawings, 1 indicates a suitable casing which is preferably ofcylindrical form and is provided with an opening 2 near its lower endthrough which sediment accumulating in the bottom of the casing may bedrawn ofi, said casing being also formed with a horizontal outstandingflange 3 at its upper end for the attachment thereto of a head indicatedas a whole by the numeral 4. This head isprovided with an inlet passage5 at one side and an outlet passage 6 at its opposite side, the inletbeing screw threaded to receive a steam pipe of the line from which itis desired to draw the water of condensation, and the outlet being alsoscrew threaded 'te receive a pipe forcarrying away the water dischargedby the operation of the device.

The outlet 6 is indirect communication with a chamber formed by a cap 7which is secured in any suitable manner in proper position upon thehead, said chamber in the cap being separated from the interior of theeasing 1 which forms a water chamber 8, by

means ofa dividing wall 9, which wall provides a central cylindricalportion 10 forming 'a chamber 11 to the lower end of which is secured :1depending tubular member 12, the upper end ofwhich 1s open into thelower encl of' the chamber 11. Formed integral with the flanged upperend of the member 12 is a depending flange or deflector 13 arrangedopposite the inlet 5 and extending'dowin wardly within the chamber 8 toprovide a battle for directing the incoming steam and water downwardlywithin said chamber 8. The iOW'BI' end of the tubular. member 12 isenlarged laterally asat 14 to provide a chamber 15 at the lower end ofthe tube within which suitable lever mechanism is pivotally supported,the lower side of the chamber being onen. A bucket or float'16 which isof the usual cup shape and open at its upper end, ispositioned withinthe chamber 8 and surroundsthe-tubular member 12 and its enlarged lowerend 14. This bucket has a free vertical movement within the chamber 8and is designed to float within water of condensation accumulatingwithin the chamber, until such time as water rises to a point where itwill overflow into the bucket and weight the bucket sufficiently tocause it to sink within the water in the chamber.

The cylindrical portion 10 which forms the chamber 11, extends upwardlyto the line of the bottom of the cap 7 and is internally screw threadedto receive a valve cage 17. This valve cage is inclosed by the cap 7 andis externally screw threaded at its upper end to receive a ring nut 18which is chambered to receive a disk 19 forming a valve seat, said diskhaving a central opening 20 forming the sole communication between thechamber of A the cap 7, which is in communication with the outlet 6, andthe chamber 11 which is in communication with the interior of the waterchamber 8 through the depending tubular member 12 which extends into thebucket 16 adapted to float in said chamber.

Freely movable within the valve cage 17 is a valve carrier 21 of tubularform having laterally extending guide wings 22 to guide the carrier inits up and down movement within the valve cage. The valve proper,consists or" a cylindrical body 23 tapered at each end to form a valveadapted to engage within and close the opening 20. This valve body 23fits snugly within the tubular body 21 and is detachably secured thereinby means of a pin 24. c

A valve rod 25 has a head 26 at its upper end engaged within the lowerend of the tubular carrier 21 below the valve body 23, the opening intothe lower end of the tubular carrier being of less diameter than that ofthe head, so that said head is confined within the carrier when thevalve body 23 is secured in the carrier by the pin 2a. This head 26 hasa semi-spherical lower side toseatupon a suitable seat therefor in thelower end of the carrier, so that said stem 25 may have a free universalmovement relative to the carrier.

Within the chamber 15 at the lower end of the tubular member 12 islocated a pair of parallel links 27 which links are pivotally attachedat one end to the wall of the enlargement 14 near the lower end thereof,by pivot screws 28 which extend through the wall into engagement withthe links 27, adjacent the lower end of the rod 25, which rod isprovided with a ball 29 seated between the links 27 in openings 30 inthe links. These links are secured together in spaced apart relation bymeans of a spacer 31, and therefore the lower end of the rod 25 isattached to the links 27 adjacent their pivotal support by means whichaffords a free universal move ment between said links and rod, said ballseating within the openings 30 in the links, forming a universal jointconnection. Between the ends of the links at their ends opposite theirpivotal support, is pivotally connected a link member 32 which is freeto swing between the links upon a transverse pivot, and a stud 33 issecured in any suitable manner to the bottom wall of the bucket 16 andis provided with an ear 34 extending into the link 32 and pivotallyconnected to the lower end of the link by a pivot pin 35 which extendsat right angles to the pivotal connection of the link 32 to the parallellinks or levers 27. The bucket is, therefore, connected to and supportedby the free ends of the links 27 and has a limited free movementrelative to these links by reason of the link connection between thefree ends of the links and the bottom of the bucket.

As the water of condensation accumulates in the chamber 8, the bucket 16will be floated upwardly by its buoyancy, thus turning the links 27 upontheir pivotal connection to the fixed tubular member 12 and exerting anupward thrust upon the rod 25. This upward movement of the rod willslide the valve carrier 21 in its cage 17 and seat the valve 23 on itsseat disk 19, closing the opening 20. When the water rises within thechamber 8 sufliciently to overflow the upper edge of the bucket 16, thebucket will become weighted by this water and caused to sink within thebody of water within the chamber 8. This downward movement of the bucketwill, through the action of the links 27, exert a downward, pull uponthe rod 25 which will move the valve carrier 21 downwardly, .and unseatthe valve 23. When the'valve 23 is thus opened, the steam pressurewithin the chamber 8 upon the upper surface of the body of watercontained within the bucket, will force this water out of the bucket, upthrough the tubular member 12, into the chamber 11, and thence outthrough the outlet 20 into the cap 7 and thence out through the outlet 6where it is carried away. Immediaely upon this discharge of water fromthe bucket, said bucket will again rise, due to its buoyancy, and will,through the movement of the links 27, press upwardly on the rod 25 andmove the valve 23 to its seat, closing the outlet.

As the water of condensation rises in the chamber 8 and reaches the topof the bucket so that it overflows into the bucket, the bucket will begradually weighted by this water, the weight increasing gradually, andthus the bucket will be gradually lowered and will operate with a slowmovement to open the discharge valve. This slow opening movement of thedischarge valve is detrimental to the operation of the device for thereason that steam, due to the gradual opening of the valve, will forceits way past the valve and escape in advance of the discharge of thewater from the bucket, but this will not happen if the bucket beretarded or held against sinking until it is nearly full of water, andto so hold or latch the bucket in rip-position,

a stud 36 is rigidly secured in any suitable manner to a flange on theupperend of the tubularmember 12, or any other convenient thecenter ofthe bucket, is a pair of ears 38 between which the stud extends andbetween which is secured a roller 39, which rolleris adapted to engageone side of the stud and roll thereon as the bucket rises and falls, andthis roller is also adapted to engage within a notch 40 in the side ofthe stud, said notch forming shoulders to be engaged by the roller andofier' a resistance to the downward movement of the bucket.

It will be noted that the bucket isa-ttached to the parallel links orlevers 27 pivotally and is therefore'free to tilt laterally. It willalso be noted that the stud 33 to which the links are connected, issecured to the bottom of the bucket some distance laterally of thevertical axis of the bucket, so that when the bucket is empty or nearlyso and floating within the water in the chamber 8, this buoyant forcewill act on the bucket in a manner to cause it to be tilted laterally inthe direction of the side, nearest to which the stud 33 is secured, andas the stud or rod 36 projects into the bucket adjacent this same side,the tendency of the bucket is to move at its upper end, away from therod 36, thus bringing the rollor 39 into contact with the rod andholding it engaged in the notch 40 thereof as long as the bucket issuiiiciently buoyant, the weight 37 assisting in this tilting of-thebucket.

. Therefore, as the water of condensation overflows the upper edge ofthe'bucket, gradually decreasing its buoyancy, the roller 39 will engagethe shoulder at the lower end of the notch 40 and resist the downwardmovement of the bucket. But when the water rises in the bucket to thedesiredheight, the bucket loses its buoyancy and the weight of thiswater will overcome the weight 37 and tilt the bucket in a directionopposite that to which it was tilted by buoyancy and weight 37 due tothe OE center support of the bucket by the lever mechanism. Thereforewhen the bucket has filledto the desired point, it will tiltsufliciently to disengage the roller 39 from the notch 40 and the bucketwill then immediately and quickly sink toward the bottom of the chamber8, operating to open the discharge valve and cause the water c0ntainedinthe bucket to be discharged as previously described. A sudden opening ofthe discharge valve is thus secured by this automatic release of thelatch mechanism comprising the notchedstud 36 and roller 39. This quickopening of the valve will cause a quick discharge of the water whichwill prevent the escape of live steam through the discollected is notsufficient to overflow into the bucket and cause 1t to descend farenough to open the valve. Air will, therefore, be

trapped in the upper part of the water chamber and in the steam supplyline.

Inorder to eliminatesuch entrapped air, means is provided in the presentconstruction for insuring the fall of the bucket and the opening otthevalve after a period of inactivity andthe arrangement is also such as toinsure the forcing out of the entrapped air ahead of the first dischargeof Water which will take place immediately upon the rise in steampressure in the supply line.

To insure the downward movement of the bucket after an extendedperiod ofinactivity or lack of pressure in the steam line, a very restrictedopening 41 is provided in the bottom of the bucket so that the water ofcondensation collecting within the chamber 8 after steam pressure hasbeen turned 0d from the steam line, is permitted to slowly seep throughthis restricted opening into the bucket and cause the bucket togradually lose its buoyancy and sink downward inthe water to the limitof its movement, thereby opening the outlet valve 23. The bucket is thusplaced in position to discharge the Water contained therein as soon asthe steam pressure again COHIES 011.

After a period of inactivity, more or less air will accumulate in thesteam line and in the upper part of the chamber 8 above the water. Inorder to discharge this air when steam pressure is again turned 011, avery restricted opening 42 is provided in the wall of the tube 12adjacent the chamber 11. Theair trapped in the upper p art of thechamber 8 may therefore find'its way gradually through this smallopening and pass into the tubel2 and charm ber 11. When steam pressureis again turned on, this pressure will force the air out of the steamline into the upper part of the chamber 8 and through the opening 42into the chamber 11, and as this steam pressure increases, and asufiicient pressure is built up on top of the water within the water.chamber and within the bucket 16, this pressure, because the bucket isin lowered position and the valve 23 is open, will force the water outof the bucket, up through the tube 12 and out through the discharge,forcing the trapped air ahead of this flow of water and thus eliminatingair from the system.

1 By reason of the bucket being in lowered position with the dischargevalve open due to the seepage of water through the opening 41,immediately upon building up of steam pressure, the device operates todischarge the water from the bucket together with the entrapped air andas soon as such discharge occurs, the bucket byits buoyancy, will riseand be locked up by the latch mechanism including the stud and roller,until such time as water of condensation again accumulates sufficientlyto overflow into thebucket and rise therein to a point where its weightwill overcome the weight 37 and tilt the bucket laterally, thusreleasing the latch mechanism and allow the bucket to immediatelydescend and open the discharge valve for the next discharge operation.

Obviously changes may be made in the form, combination, and arrangementof the latching up device for the float and also in the construction andarrangement of the trap itself, within the scope of the appended claims,Without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I do nottherefore limit myself to the particular means, combination, andarrangement shown.

Having thus fully described my invention, What I claim is 1. In a deviceof the character described, the combination with a casing forming achamber to receive Water of condensation, a buoyant member in saidchamber, said member being adapted to receive water of condensation toweight the member for downward movement and a discharge valve operatedby said buoyant member; of means for releasably holding said buoyantmember in raised position and against downward movement during apredetermined period in the. accumulation of the water in the member,said means being operated by a movement of said member to effect quickrelease of said member and permit the downward movement thereof to berapidly completed and quickly open said valve.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with a casingproviding a chamber to receive Water of condensation, a buoyant memberin said chamber having an open top for the overflow of water thereinto,and a discharge valve operated by the rise and fall of said buoyantmember; of latching means automatically operated to hold said buoyantmember in up position and to automatically release the same by movementof said member and effect quick opening of said valve.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination with a casingforming a water chamber, a buoyant member in said chamber, said memberbeing adapted to receive water to weight the member for downwardmovement and a discharge valve operated by said buoyant member; ofholding means for said buoyant member adapted to temporarily preventsuch downward movement of the member and means controlled by the amountof water in said member, for releasing said holding means to permitquick downward movement of said member.

4-. In a device of the character described, the combination with areceptacle to receive water of condensation, a buoyant member, and adischarge valve operated by said buoyant member; of means for suspendingsaid buoyant member and permitting free lateral tilting movementthereof, and means made active by the tilting of said member in onedirection to hold said member in up position and to release said memberupon the tilting thereof in an opposite direction.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination With areceptacle forming a chamber to receive water of condensation, a buoyantmember in said chamber, and a discharge valve operated by the movementof said buoyant member; of means connected to said buoyant memberlaterally of the center of gravity thereof for suspending said buoyantmember within said chamber and permitting free lateral tilting movementthereof, and means for locking said buoyant member in up position madeactive by tilting move ment in one direction of said buoyant member,said buoyant member being tilted in an opposite direction byaccumulation of water therein to release said member and permit quickdownward movement thereof to effect a quick opening of said valve.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination with a casingproviding a water chamber, a discharge valve, and an open float bucketin said chamber to operate said valve; of means extending into saidbucket for operating said valve by the up and down movement of thebucket, said means beiu connected to said bucket laterally of the centerof gravity of said bucket to cause a tilting movement thereof in onedirection when the bucket is buoyant, and means made active by saidtilting movement of the bucket in said direction, for releasably lockingsaid bucket in up position, said bucket being tilted in an oppositedirection to release the same, by accumulation of water in the bucket.

7. In a device of the character described, the combination with a casingproviding a chamber to receive water of condensation, a discharge valve,a float bucket in said chamber to operate said valve; of means extendinginto the bucket and connected to the lower end thereof laterally of itscenter of gravity for operating said valve by an up and down movement ofsaid bucket, a fixed guide member for guiding the bucket in its up anddown movement, means on said bucket for engaging said guide todetachably hold said bucket in up position, said bucket being tilted byaccumulation of water therein for releasing said means from said guideand permitting a quick downward movement of the bucket.

8. In steam trap structures, wherein the float bucket and outlet valveare connected to move in synchronism in a substantially verticaldirection to open and close the valve with the closing movement producedby the float bucket buoyancy andthe opening movement of the valveproduced by the gravity action of water of condensation accumulationswithin the bucket, the combination with the connected valve and floatbucket, of a pivotal formation within the connection of valve and bucketto permit tilting of the bucket, and

in that the bucket is provided with an ooze port operative to provideaccumulation of bucket contents from the trap seal to release the bucketfrom its held position and open the valve during periods of extendedinacmeans for controlling the time and extent of V tilting movements ofthe bucket, said means being operative to limit the tilting activitiesto periods when the bucket is in its upper position and to retain thebucket in such upper position pending accumulation of bucket contentssufiicient to tilt the bucket to release the latter from its heldposition and to cause gravity action. of the bucket to rapidly shift thevalve to its open position.

9. A structure as in claim 8 characterized in that the bucket in its.heldposition is located in one of the extremes of its tilting movement,and the tilting action to release the bucket from its held positionshifts the bucket to approximately the opposite extreme of such tiltingmovement, with the bucket retained in the latter position during itsvertical movements.

10. A structure as in claim 8 characterized in that the tilting movementof the bucket between itsextremes is limited substantially to periodswhen the bucket is inits upper position.

11. A structure as in claim 8 characterized in that the means includes amember carried by and movable with the bucket, and a stationary member,one of said members having a recess with the other member having anelement adapted to enter the recess to permit the tilting action and toproduce the holding action, the gravity-producing accumulation of bucketcontents serving to tilt the bucket to release the element from therecess.

12. A structure as in claim 8 characterized in that the means includes amember carried by and movable with the bucket, and a stationarv memberhaving a recess, the bucketcarried member being movable into and out ofthe recess during the tilting movements of the bucket.

13. A structure as in claim 8 characterized in that the bucket isprovided with an ooze port to permit passage of water of the trap sealto the bucket interior to provide accumulation of bucket contentssufficient to tilt the bucket and release it from its held position,whereby the holding means will be automatically rendered inactive duringextended periods of inactivityof the trap.

14:. A structure as in claim 8, characterized

